Thursday, 27 June 2013

I am rubbish at sport. No, really I am. I know I now have Fibromyalgia and can barely stand let alone run, but I have always been really bad at sports. The highlight of my sporting career was coming second in the long jump at our secondary school's sports day. "Second" you say, that's pretty damned good. What are you talking about? I came second because there were only two of us competing!
My partner gives me a pained look every time he has to throw something to me because he knows I will not catch it 9 times out of 10. He likes sports, especially football, and the idea that I may pass on my non-sporty genes to prospective offspring is something he dreads.
It's probably because of this non-sportiness that I have never been that much interested in any kind of sport much, except for tennis. I don't know why I like watching tennis. I can't hold a racket to save my life. But Wimbledon is just about the only sporting event I watch on TV. So I am happily engrossed in all the action at the moment.
So as a knitter I wondered if there was a Knit-a-long for Wimbledon, like the Tour de Fleece or Ravelenic Games. It appears not. There are Wimbledon knitting groups on Ravelry, but for people who live there. I could start a KAL of my own, something where you have to change ends regularly or use new balls. Hmm... not sure about this, and I do have six projects on the go as it is. I think I will just sit down with my knitting and watch the tennis for a bit...

Monday, 24 June 2013

I on a bit of a sock binge at the moment. I have finished the Monkey socks which are a fantastic pattern to make. Have yet to block them and take pictures. I have blocked the Snicket socks:

I really like the cuff on these where you knit through the back of the stitch to make a raised column. The lattice pattern can be a bit fiddly to do but looks really good so is worth it. I used King Cole Zig Zag which felt a bit rough but then really softened up after washing and blocking.
And yes I have cast on more socks. Two pairs in fact. I was only intending to start one, but then I watched The Knit Girllls podcast and they happened to say that the Opal Vincent Van Gogh sock yarn is being discontinued. I have been meaning to make a pair of sock out of this yarn for ages, so of course I quickly went and brought some in the Sunflowers colourway. I am just doing a plain vanilla sock toe-up and with an afterthought heel.
While waiting for the Opal yarn to arrive I cast on for a pair of Business Casual socks by Tanis Lavallee. I am using Woolcraft Superwash Sock Yarn in a mottled brown and black colourway.
I also had to buy a new 2.25mm circular needle as the plastic tubing broke just where it connects to the bamboo needle on my old ones. I prefer using bamboo needles as I get quite a bit of pain in my hands and metal needles seem to make it worse. So I looked for something a bit stronger than bamboo but not metal and came up with Knit Pro Karbonz. So I ordered one and so far seem to be getting on ok with it. They are bit more expensive than other similar products but are well made and I am happy with them. The join between the cable and the needle does catch a bit, but the cable is very flexible with no memory and the metal points make it easy to see dark coloured stitches. This is why I didn't go for the wooden Symfonie needles. I brought a set of Symfonie dpns and found it really hard to see the stitches against the coloured wood. And it's difficult to find the small sizes in plain wooden circulars. I may have to get some metal needles for doing lace though as the points need to be sharper and I haven't seen any pointy needles that aren't metal. I shall stick to socks for now.

Saturday, 15 June 2013

I finally finished spinning the merino for my partner's mother's birthday on my drop spindle. It's take a while! I split it in two and and now starting to ply the two together. Again on my drop spindle! I was hoping to have the spinning wheel ready by now, but it still needs some work on the wheel shaft. The bobbins came though!!! They are brilliant, and I really must thank Joan and Clive Jones from Woodland Turnery for the excellent job they did. They even managed to repair the broken one I sent as a template for free! Can't wait to use them.

To help with the plying I made my own Lazy Kate. It's just three old knitting needles pushed through the basket I use to store my fibre in.

I also got around to making a drawstring bag this week. I have had the material for ages, and have been meaning to make it for ages! Even though I hand stitched it, it made up pretty quick.

Knitting-wise I have finished the knitting part of the new kitchen clock, but then found that the clock mechanism I got for it does not have a long enough shaft to go through it! So have had to buy a new one, and will have to wait till next week to finish the project.
As I had finished the Snicket socks I decided to start on another pair of socks. I wanted to try out doing an afterthought heel. So I watched the afterthought heel tutorial by The Knit Girlls on YouTube and then cast on for a pair of Monkey Socks by Cookie A. I have done one sock and am half way through the other. The afterthought heel is brilliant. Very easy and fits my heel well. Much nicer than picking up stitches for a gusset. The Monkey sock pattern is very quick to knit up too, and looks much more complicated than it is. Will have to decide what to knit next sooner than I thought I would!

Friday, 7 June 2013

I am seriously impressed with myself! He is totally adorable!!! It's taken me a while to make him because of all the sewing together of parts, but it was totally worth it. He is from a pattern by Louise Watling I came across in a Woman's Weekly magazine I was given.
I have finished the Snicket socks,but they need blocking before I can take pictures. Also finished another Age of Steam and Brass shawl for a friend's birthday prezzie, again it needs blocking. Then because I have been good and finished three things I cast on to make a knitted clock from a pattern in 'Simply Knitting' by Kyoko Nakayoshi. Our kitchen clock died ages ago and I have been meaning to replace it but couldn't find one I liked. Then I saw this and immediately wanted to make it. My other half already has a record clock to go with his record collection, so now I will have one to go with my stash!

Sunday, 2 June 2013

I actually got out of the house!!! Though I must confess that this was a week ago, and I have been really bad and in bed for the past several days. Still it was worth it to get out in the spring sunshine. My partner and I popped over to the next village to help one of the elderly people he cares for with his new Sky box remote control, and then went up to the local chapel for a bit of a walk. We followed a short foot path and found a lovely wood with bluebells.

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I really enjoyed myself. A walk, for me, normally consists of my partner pushing me down the road and back in my wheelchair! So even a five or ten minute walk like this means a lot to me. Now that the weather is improving I hope to be able to go out a bit more.

Knitting-wise I have finished my Mum's Bunty Mitts:

I'm also making steady progress on my mitred square cushion cover for the iMake KAL:

I am still working on my Snicket socks, and have started a new Mulberry Wrap by Colinette using their Tao Silk and mohair Parisienne in the Toasted Macaroon colourway. So soft! I made one last year in their Madras and Oyster Blush colourways. I got he yarn as a birthday present to myself when we went to the Colinette shop near Welshpool a couple of years ago. It was really good with some absolutely gorgeous yarns. The also do little tours around the dying area which we managed to get to do while there as well, and was really interesting. I'm not sure if the family have plans to go to Wales again this year. Am keeping my fingers crossed. x